Method of applying and securing a needle

ABSTRACT

A needle assembly including a needle having a pointed end, the needle being removably secured to a flexible air breathable bandage which is folded, the needle extending from one corner thereof in the cross-folded form. The needle is provided with a flexible connecting tube and a connector for attachment to a user device. The flexible bandage forms a manipulable winged handle in the initial folded form, and serves to enable the insertion of the needle into a patient&#39;&#39;s body, after which the bandage is unfolded and is adhered to the skin of the patient&#39;&#39;s body, preferably by adhesion of a pressure sensitive adhesive surface on one face of the bandage. In the unfolded form the bandage covers the puncture site, and after needle use the needle may be removed while leaving the bandage in place, leaving the puncture site covered by the bandage.

United States Patent [191 Baldwin 1 Feb. 4, 1975 [54] METHOD OF APPLYINGAND SECURING A 3,463,152 8/1969 Sorenson l28/214.4 NEEDLE 3,589,361.6/1971 Loper 128/2144 [75] lnventor: Brian E. Baldwin, Wilmette, 111.Primary Examiner Richard Gaudet [73] Assignee: Affiliated HospitalProducts, Inc., St. Assistant Examinerl- C McGowan L i M Attorney,Agent, or Firm-Reginald F. Pippin, Jr.

[22] Filed: Oct. 16, 1972 21 Appl. No.: 297,794

Related U.S. Application Data [62] Division of Ser. No. 42,713, June 2,1970,

abandoned.

[52] U.S. Cl 128/214 R [51] Int. Cl A6lm 5/00 [58] Field of Search128/82, 82.1, 2.06, 2.1 R, 128/133, 155, 172, 214 R, 214.4, 221, 314,347-351, DIG. 4, DIG. 26, 214.2

[57] ABSTRACT A needle assembly including a needle having a pointed end,the'needle being removably secured to a flexible air breathable bandagewhich is folded, the needle extending from one corner thereof in thecross-folded form. The needle is provided with a flexible connectingtube and a connector for attachment to a user device. The flexiblebandage forms a manipulable winged handle in the initial folded form,and serves to enable the insertion of the needle into a patients body,after which the bandage is unfolded and is adhered to the skin of thepatients body, preferably by adhesion of a pressure sensitive adhesivesurface on one face of the bandage. In the unfolded form the bandagecovers the puncture site, and after needle use the needle may be removedwhile leaving the bandage in place, leaving the puncture site covered bythe bandage.

13 Claims, 22 Drawing Figures PATENIEBFEM 3,863,631

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PAI MIEBFE $863,631

SHEET CHUF 18 FIG, 5

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SHEET C5 0F 18 FIG. 9

PATENTEU M915 I 7 3.863531 SHEET U7UF18 FIG. IO

PAIENIEU FEB 4:975

SHEET OBUF 18 FIG.

D 9 OF 1 8 *PMENIEB EB SHEET FIG.

' PATENTED EB SHEET lOflF 18 FIG. l3

PATENTEU FEB 4 I 75 SHEET MM 13 FIG. l4

.PAIENIEDFE 3.868.631

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' SHEET lQUF18 FlG. I8 I PATENTED FEB Y4|975 SHEET 15 0F 18 FIG. l9

. PATENTED EB mm SHEET lBUF 18 FIG. 20

PATENTED 4W5 3,863,631

SHEET 18UF 18 METHOD OF APPLYING AND SECURING A NEEDLE This applicationis a division of copending applica tion Ser. No. 42,713, filed June 2,1970, now abandoned.

This invention relates to a method of removably inserting and securingan attachable needle to a body member, and more particularly to a methodof manually manipulably inserting a needle assembly into and attachingsuch to a patients body, such as for intravenous therapy or testing(using a hollow needle and fluid connection thereto), or for electricalsignal.

In the art of intravenous therapy it is necessary to insert a needleinto the vein ofa patient, and to retain the needle in place for anextended period of time, the time varying with the particularintravenous therapy or testing involved. It has been previously proposedand practiced to insert such intravenous needles manually into the vein,as by holding the needle or needle holder and puncturing the body, afterwhich a strip of adhesive may be applied to the needle to hold such inplace. This method requires the operator to have ready a strip ofadhesive, and to thereupon apply the adhesive while holding the needlein place. While such is to some degree satisfactory, it has been founddesirable to provide better methods and arrangements for needleinsertion and attachment to the body.

One such prior arrangement is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,064,648, whichincludes a needle with a semi-flexible plastic wing section permanentlyconnected to the needle and having weakened portions which enable theplastic wing sections to be elastically folded to form a manual handle.This device readily enables the manual insertion of the needle. Thesubsequent securing of the needle to the patients body is accomplishedby the employment of a strip of adhesive tape which appears to be placeddirectly over the down-folded wings to cover the wings and adhere to aportion of the body adjacent the wings. This device does have theadvantage of providing a handle for the hand of the operator, but has anumber of distinct disadvantages, including the requirement for theadditional securing tape to be added thereto to secure the needleassembly to the patients body. In addition, this needle assemblyprovides no self-contained portion for covering the puncture site, andthis leaves it to the operator to decide whether to cover this site,although such in fact is desirable as an aid to prevention ofcontamination. The device also tends to prevent skin breathing in thezone over which the down-folded wings lie, as the wings are formed ofsolid or continuous plastic material. There are also distinct pressurepoints or zones at the edge junction of the wings with the securesurface, and this edge junction also forms a bacteria collection pointinasmuch as the skin is depressed along this zone by the tape-down ofthe plastic wings to the patients skin. The device also requires theremoval or release of the adhesive tape securing strip and the removalof the entire attachable needle assembly, including the needle andplastic wings, in order to remove the needle from the patient.

It is an object and feature of the present invention to provide methodof inserting and attaching an attachable needle assembly manualmanipulation, insertion and securing of the needle in place withouttouching the needle, and which utilizes a multi-use bandage which servesboth as a manually manipulable handle 2 for needle insertion and as aneedle securing bandage and site-covering bandage after insertion of theneedle.

It is a further object and feature of the invention to provide a methodof manually manipulable insertion of a needle into a body with awing-forming self-adhering bandage and needle assembly and covering ofthe needle puncture site with the bandage, and if desired subsequentlyremoving the needle without removal of the bandage from its covering ofthe needle puncture site, whereby the bandage can be left in place andcontinue to provide effective cover for the puncture site.

Still a further feature of the invention is the provision of a method ofinserting and anchoring a needle in a patients body by employing amultipurpose bandage preconnected to the needle for enabling needlemanipulation, insertion and anchoring and puncture site covermg.

Still other objects, features and attendant advantages will becomeapparent to one skilled in the art from a reading of the followingdetailed description of a preferred embodiment constructed in accordancewith the invention, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawingswherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one physical embodiment usable inaccordance with the invention.

FIG. 2 is a view similar to that of FIG. 1, illustrating the device inan upsidedown position for clarity of illustration of certain parts.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary longitudinal section view of FIG. 1 with a coversheath added.

FIG. 4 is a partially exploded view of the unfolded arrangement of FIG.1.

FIGS. 5 and 9-13 illustrate steps in the insertion and securing of theneedle assembly to a patients arm.

FIGS. 6-8 illustrate optional pre-insertion manipulative steps.

FIGS. 14 and 15 illustrate steps in removal of the needle from thepatients arm while leaving the bandage in place.

FIGS. 16 and 17 are perspective views of a modification of thearrangement of FIG. 1.

FIGS. 18-20 illustrate steps in the securing of the modified arrangementof FIGS. 16 and 17 to a patients arm.

FIG. 21 is a perspective view of a further embodiment usable accordingto the invention.

FIG. 22 is a partially exploded view of a further embodiment usableaccording to the invention.

Referring now in detail to the figures of the drawing, in the embodimentof FIG. 1, a bandage and needle assembly 11 is provided for useaccording to the invention, including a tubular needle 13 having a point13a which may have a beveled point configuration or otherwise as may bedesired, the needle being suitably connected at its rear end to a lengthof flexible tubing 15 to which is also attached a suitable connector 17which may be employed for effectively connecting the needle 13 andflexible tubing 15 to a desired user device, such as a syringe, bottle,etc.

Needle 13 may be connected to flexible tubing 15 in any suit-ablemanner, as by frictional retention within the end of the tubing at thejunction therebetween, as indicated more particularly in FIG. 3. Theexposed portion of the needle 13 may be suitably protected againstdamage or premature contact, as by a tubular sheath cover C slidablyremovably fitted thereover as indicated in FIG. 3.

1. The method of applying and securing a needle and multiple foldedbandage unit assembly to a body having a puncturable securing surface,comprising holding a portable and freely manually manipulable needle andfolded bandage unit assembly having a needle section and a foLdedbandage section by manually grasping said folded bandage portionthereof, puncturing and inserting said needle section into a body whilemanually grasping said folded bandage section, multiply unfolding saidbandage section and adhesively removably adhering a pressure sensitiveadhesive undersurface of said bandage section to said body by and duringremoval of a protective covering from said adhesive surface, toremovably secure said needle section in place on said body, saidremovable adhesive securing of said bandage section to said body beingeffected during and by pulling on and effecting peeling-back removal ofsaid protective covering while bringing said pressure-sensitive adhesiveundersurface into pressurized self-adhering surface contact with saidbody.
 2. The method according to claim 1, said removable adhesivesecuring of said bandage section to said body being effected during andby effecting peeling-back removal of said protective covering in ageneral direction having a component extending generally along theextent of the surface of said body.
 3. The method according to claim 1,said unfolding including multiple unfolding of said bandage section intwo directions transverse to one another.
 4. The method according toclaim 3, including effectively covering the peripheral zone extendingabout the puncture, by said multiple unfolding of said bandage section.5. The method according to claim 3, and subsequently removing saidneedle section from said body while leaving said bandage section securedin effective covering relation about said puncture.
 6. The method ofapplying and securing a needle and folded bandage to a body having apuncturable securing surface, comprising holding a portable and freelymanually manipulable needle and folded bandage unit assembly having aneedle section and a folded bandage section by manually grasping saidfolded bandage portion thereof, puncturing and inserting said needlesection into a body while manually grasping said folded bandage section,unfolding said bandage section and adhesively removably adhering theundersurface of said bandage section to said body to removably securesaid needle section in place on said body, and applying said bandagesection over and laterally surrounding the puncture site of said needlesection in covering relation while and by adhesively adhering saidbandage section to said body.
 7. The method of applying and securing aneedle and folded adhesive bandage assembly to a body having apuncturable securing surface, comprising holding said needle and foldedbandage assembly by manually grasping said folded bandage thereof,inserting said needle into a body while manually grasping said foldedbandage, unfolding said bandage and adhesively removably adhering apressure-sensitive adhesive securing surface of said bandage to saidbody in generally covering relation about the zone of insertion of saidneedle into said body by and through removal of a protective cover sheetfrom said adhesive surface, to removably secure said needle in place onsaid body, said removal of said protective cover sheet being effected bymanually holding said assembly in place at the zone of said puncturewhile pulling on and peeling back an edge portion of said protectivecover sheet and also exerting an adhering pressure component on the thusuncovered adhesive securing surface of said bandage to thereby effectsubstantially interdependent removal of said protective cover sheet andadhesive securing of said bandage to the adjacent facing surface of saidbody.
 8. The method according to claim 7, said adhesive securing of saidbandage on said body being effected by and during removal of saidprotective cover sheet from said bandage, said removal of saidprotective cover sheet being effected by pulling back on said edgeportion in a direction having a component extending generally along theextent of the surface oF said body to which said adhesive surface ofsaid bandage is to be adhered.
 9. The method according to claim 7, saidedge of said protective cover sheet being manually grasped in a zoneadjacent said needle and peeled back in a direction extending away fromsaid needle.
 10. The method according to claim 7, further comprisingapplying said bandage over and laterally surrounding the puncture siteof said needle in covering relation thereto while and by adhesivelyadhering said bandage to said body.
 11. The method according to claim 7,said unfolding including opposite directional unfolding of foldedlyopposed sections of said bandage.
 12. The method according to claim 7,said unfolding including multiple unfolding of said bandage in twodirections transverse to one another.
 13. The method according to claim7, and subsequently removing said needle section from said body whileleaving said bandage section secured in effective covering relationabout said puncture.